Skip to main content

Coccolithophorid and Dinoflagellate Synecology in the South and Equatorial Atlantic: Improving the Paleoecological Significance of Phytoplanktonic Microfossils

  • Chapter
The South Atlantic in the Late Quaternary

Abstract

Individual planktonic microfossil species, or assemblage groups of different species, are often used to, qualitatively and/or quantitatively, reconstruct past (sub)surface-water conditions of the world’s oceans and seas. Until now, little information has been available on the surface sediment distribution patterns and paleoenvironmental reconstruction potential of coccolith, calcareous dinoflagellate cyst and organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst assemblages of the South and equatorial Atlantic, especially at the species level. This paper (i) summarizes the distributions of these three phytoplanktonic microfossil groups in numerous Atlantic surface sediments from 20°N–50°S and 30°E–65°W and determines their relationship with the physicochemical and trophic conditions of the overlying (sub)surface-waters, and (ii) determines the synecology of the three phytoplankton groups by carrying out statistical analyses (i.e. detrended and canonical correspondence analyses) on all groups simultaneously. Ecological relationships are additionally strengthened by statistically comparing the distribution patterns ofthe phytoplankton groups with those of planktonic foraminifera (Pflaumann et al. 1996; Niebler et al. 1998), as the ecological preferences of the latter are much better known. Many of the analyzed phytoplanktonic microfossil species or groups of species in the surface sediments do show restricted distributions which primarily reflect the environmental conditions of the upper water masses above them (e.g. sea-surface temperature, productivity, stratification). The acquired ‘reference’ data sets are large and diverse enough to allow future development of transfer functions for the reconstruction of past surface-water conditions, and show that there is still an enormous paleoenvironmental reconstruction potential concealed in many fossil coccolith and dinoflagellate cyst assemblages.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Andruleit H (1996) A filtration technique for quantitative studies of coccoliths. Micropaleontology 42: 403–406

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumann K-H, Cepek M, Kinkel H (1999) Coccolithophores as Indicators of Ocean Water Masses Surface-Water Temperature, and Paleoproductivity-Examples from the South Atlantic. In: Fischer G, Wefer G (eds) Use of Proxies in Paleoceanography-Examples from the South Atlantic. Springer, Berlin, pp 117–144

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Beaufort L, Lancelot Y, Camberlin P, Cayre O, Vincent E, Bassinot F, Labeyrie L (1997) Insolation cycles as a major control of Equatorial Indian Ocean primary production. Science 278: 1451–1454

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolch CJ, Hallegraeff GM (1990) Dinoflagellate cysts in recent sediments from Tasmania, Australia. Bot Mar 33: 173–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boltovskoy E, Boltovskoy D, Correa N, Brandini F (1996) Planktic foraminifera from the southwestern Atlantic (30°–60°S): Species-specific patterns in the upper 50 m. Mar Micropaleontol 28: 53–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Vernal A, Rochon A, Hillaire-Marcel C, Turon J-L, Guiot J (1993) Quantitative reconstruction of sea-surface conditions, seasonal extent of sea-ice cover and meltwater discharges in high latitude marine environments from dinoflagellate cyst assemblages. In: Peltier WR (ed) Ice in the Climate System. NATO ASI Ser I (12), pp 611–621

    Google Scholar 

  • Esper O, Zonneveld KAF (2002) Distribution of organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts in surface sediments of the Southern Ocean (eastern Atlantic sector) between the Subtropical Front and the Weddell Gyre. Mar Micropaleontol 46: 177–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Esper O, Zonneveld KAF, Höll C, Karwath B, Kuhlmann H, Schneider RR, Vink A, Weise-Ilho I, Willems H (2000) Reconstruction of palaeoceanographic conditions in the South Atlantic Ocean at the last two Terminations based on calcareous dinoflagellate cysts. Int J Earth Sci 88: 680–693

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giraudeau J, Pujos A (1990) Fonction de transfert basee sur les nannofosilles calcaires du Pleistocene des Caraibes. Oceanol Acta 13: 453–469

    Google Scholar 

  • Hale W, Pflaumann U (1999) Sea-surface temperature estimations using a modem analog technique with foraminiferal assemblages from Western Atlantic Quaternary sediments. In: Fischer G, Wefer G (eds) Use of Proxies in Paleoceanography — Examples from the South Atlantic. Springer, Berlin, pp 69–90

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Höll C, Zonneveld KAF, Willems H (1998) On the ecology of calcareous dinoflagellates: The Quaternary Eastern Equatorial Atlantic. Mar Micropaleontol 33: 1–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Imbrie J, Kipp NG (1971) A new micropaleontological method for quantitative paleoclimatology: Application to a late Pleistocene Caribbean core. In: Turekian KK (ed) The Late Cenozoic Glacial Ages. Yale University Press, New Haven, pp 71–181

    Google Scholar 

  • Jordan RW, Kleijne A (1994) A classification system for living coccolithophores. In: Winter A, Siesser WG (eds) Coccolithophores. Cambridge University Press, pp 83–106

    Google Scholar 

  • Karwath B (2000) Ecological studies on living and fossil calcareous dinoflagellates of the equatorial and tropical Atlantic Ocean. Ber Fachber Geowiss, Univ Bremen 152, 175P

    Google Scholar 

  • Kemle-von Mücke S, Oberhänsli H (1999) The Distribution of Living Planktic Foraminifera in Relation to Southeast Atlantic Oceanography. In: Fischer G, Wefer G (eds) Use of Proxies in Paleoceanography — Examples from the South Atlantic. Springer, Berlin, pp 91–115

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kinkel H, Baumann K-H, Èepek M (2000) Coccolithophores in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean: Response to seasonal and Late Quaternary surface water variability. Mar Micropaleontol 39: 87–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis J, Hallett R (1997) Lingulodinium polyedrum (Gonyaulax polyedra) A blooming dinoflagellate. Oceanogr and MarBioI: AnnualReview 35: 97–161

    Google Scholar 

  • Matthiessen J, Baumann K-H, Schröder-Ritzrau A, Hass C, Andruleit H, Baumann A, Jensen S, Kohly A, Pflaumann U, Samtleben C, Schäfer P, Thiede J (2001) Distribution of calcareous, siliceous and organic-walled planktic microfossils in surface sediments of the Nordic Seas and their relation to surface-water masses. In: Schäfer P, Ritzrau W, Schluter M, Thiede J (eds) The Northern North Atlantic: A Changing Environment. Springer, Berlin, pp 105–127

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Mix AC, Morey AE, Pisias NG, Hostetler SW (1999) Foraminiferal faunal estimates of paleotemperature: Circumventing the no-analog problem yields cool ice age tropics. Paleoceanography 14: 350–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Molfino B, McIntyre A (1990) Precessional forcing of nutricline dynamics in the equatorial Atlantic. Science 29: 766–769

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson DM, Tréguer P, Brzezinski MA, Leynaert A, Queguiner B (1995) Production and dissolution of biogenic silica in the ocean: Revised global estimates, comparison with regional data and relationship to biogenic sedimentation. Glob Biogeochem Cycl 9: 359–372

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nieber H-S, Gersonde R (1998) A planktic foraminiferal transfer function for the southern South Atlantic Ocean. Mar Micropaleontol 34: 213–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oberhänsli H, Bénier C, Meinecke G, Schmidt H, Schneider R, Wefer G (1992) Planktonic foraminifers as tracers of ocean currents in the eastern South Atlantic. Paleoceanography 7: 607–632

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson RG, Stramma L (1991) Upper-level circulation in the South Atlantic Ocean. Prog Oceanogr 26: 1–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pflaumann U, Duprat J, Pujol C, Labeyrie LD (1996) SIMMAX: A modem analog technique to deduce Atlantic sea surface temperatures from planktonic foraminifera in deep-sea sediments. Paleoceanography 11: 15–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prell WL (1985) Thestability of low latitude sea surface temperatures: An evaluation of the CLIMAP reconstruction with emphasis on positive SST anomalies. US DOE Rep TR 025, 60 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Ravelo AC, Fairbanks RG (1990) Reconstructing tropical Atlantic hydrography using planktonic foraminifera and an ocean model. Paleoceanography 5: 409–431

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samtleben C, Schäfer P, Andruleit H, Baumann A, Baumann K-H, Kohly A, Matthiessen J, Schröder-Ritzrau A (1995) Plankton in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea: From living communities to sediment assemblages — an actualistic approach. Geol Rundsch 84: 108–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider RR, Müller PJ, Ruhland G, Meinecke G, Schmidt H, Wefer G (1996) Late Quaternary surface temperatures and productivity in the east-equatorial South Atlantic: Response to changes in trade/ monsoon wind forcing and surface water advection. In: Wefer G, Berger WH, Siedler G, Webb DJ (eds) The South Atlantic: Present and Past Circulation. Springer, Berlin, pp 527–551

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Schröder-Ritzrau A, Andruleit H, Jensen S, Samtleben C, Schäfer P, Matthiessen J, Hass HC, Kohly A, Thiede J (2001) Distribution, export and alteration of fossilizable plankton in the Nordic Seas. In: Schäfer P, Ritzrau W, Schlüter M, Thiede J (eds) The Northern North Atlantic: A Changing Environment. Springer, Berlin, pp 81–104

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Shokati I, Baumann K-H, Èepek M, Henrich R (1999) Zur Sedimentation von Coccolithophoriden und ihrer Akkumulation in spätpleistozän-holozänen Sedi-menten des östlichen Südatlantiks. Zbl Geol Paläont Teil 1: 859–876

    Google Scholar 

  • Tangen K, Brand LE, Blackwelder PL, Guillard RRL (1982) Thoracosphaera heimii (Lohmann) Kamptner is a dinophyte: observations on its morphology and life cycle. Mar Micropaleontol 7: 193–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thunell RC, Reynolds LA (1984) Sedimentation of planktonic foraminifera: Seasonal changes in species flux in the Panama Basin. Micropaleontol 30: 241–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ufkes E, Jansen JHF, Schneider RR (2000) Anomalous occurrences of Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (left) in a 420-ky upwelling record from Walvis Ridge (SE Atlantic). Mar Micropaleontol 40: 23–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vénec-Peyré M-T, Caulet JP, Grazzini CV (1997) Glacial/interglacial changes in the equatorial part of the Somali Basin (NW Indian Ocean) during the last 355 kyr. Paleoceanography 12: 640–648

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vink A, Zonneveld KAF, Willems H (2000a) Distributions of calcareous dinoflagellate cysts in surface sedi-ments of the western equatorial Atlantic Ocean, and their potential use in palaeoceanography. Mar Mi-cropaleontol 38: 149–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vink A, Zonneveld KAF, Willems H (2000b) Organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts in western equatorial Atlantic surface sediments: distributions and their relation to environment. Rev Paleobot Palynol 112: 247–286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vink A, Brune A, Höll C, Zonneveld KAF, Willems H (2002) On the response of calcareous dinoflagellates to oligotrophy and stratification of the upper water column in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 178: 53–66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wall D, Dale B, Lohmann GP, Smith WK (1977) The environmental and climatic distribution of dinoflagellate cysts in modem marine sediments from regions in the North and South Atlantic Oceans and adjacent seas. Mar Micropaleontol 2: 121–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wefer G, Berger WH, Siedler G, Webb DJ (1996) The South Atlantic: Present and Past Circulation. Springer, Berlin, 729 p

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wendler I, Zonneveld KAF, Willems H (2002) Oxygen availability effects on early diagenetic calcite dissolution in the Arabian Sea as inferred from calcareous dinoflagellate cysts. Glob Planet Change 34: 219–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winter A, Siesser W (1994) Coccolithophores. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 242 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Zonneveld KAF, Brune A, Willems H (2000) Spatial distribution of calcareous dinoflagellate cysts in surface sediments of the Atlantic Ocean between 13°N and 36°S. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 111: 197–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zonneveld KAF, Hoek R, Brinkhuis H, Willems H (2001a) Geographical distributions of organic-walled dino-flagellate cysts in surficial sediments of the Benguela upwelling region and their relationship to upper ocean conditions. Prog Oceanogr 48: 25–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zonneveld KAF, Versteegh GJM, de Lange GJ (2001b) Palaeoproductivity and post-depositional aerobic organic matter decay reflected by dinoflagellate cyst assemblages of the Eastern Mediterranean S 1 sapropel. Mar Geol 172: 181–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2003 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Vink, A. et al. (2003). Coccolithophorid and Dinoflagellate Synecology in the South and Equatorial Atlantic: Improving the Paleoecological Significance of Phytoplanktonic Microfossils. In: Wefer, G., Mulitza, S., Ratmeyer, V. (eds) The South Atlantic in the Late Quaternary. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-18917-3_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-18917-3_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-62354-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-18917-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics